Our story is about what really happened...when told sounds unbelievable. The purpose of telling our story is to shine some light on a very dark subject, childhood sexual abuse and the people that facilitated the abuse that occurred in my family. This is an emotional subject that must be faced!
If someone asks him, ‘What are these wounds on your body?’ he will answer, ‘The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.’ Zech 13 v 6
This part of my story is done. I have been able to outline what our family went through at the hands of a pedophile and corrupt church leaders. I have been able to show how keeping secret sexual abuse allows the abuser to continue sexually abusing other innocent people. I have tried to show that it is not appropriate to handle such a serious issue with prayer alone and you should reach beyond the church leaders for help and guidance. I believe I was able to warn families in the Gig Harbor/Tacoma area about a sexual predator in their midst, Patrick D. Rojas.
Eddie Rojas is still on the run with a felony warrant. There are still victims of Patrick that have NOT seen any justice. There are many individuals that were part of our our story that are still healing from all the betrayal and devastation. I will only post if there is pertinent information such as additional crimes committed by Patrick, if Eddie is arrested, or other relevant local stories that catch my eye. By no means am I done in my pursuit to bring awareness to the epidemic of childhood sexual abuse. Most likely the venue will change. Time will tell.
Thank you for all the prayers and encouragement over the years! And please pass on the link to my blog if you believe Our Story can help someone or if you know someone that is likely to run in the same circle as the Rojas family. I will keep tabs on the blog and can be reached at daniellelynnschneider@gmail.com
The past two weeks have been emotional for me. Someone reached out to me from "the other side." A staunch supporter of Patrick and the belief that he is healed and repentant. I am still unsure as to why this individual felt compelled to contact me ...although lots was said, not one word of regret for her support of Patrick. I understand that the individual felt "lead" by the Lord to contact me but I think they missed the point of His prodding.
This individual happens to be at the end of her life and I fully expected some of the Rojas family members that have been in hiding to poke their heads up to say goodbye but was a little surprised to get a phone call informing me that Sarah Rojas was seen downtown Gig Harbor, yesterday, sitting on a bench sipping on a drink with another girl from our former church. So brazen. The warrant is only for Eddie Rojas so any other Rojas can come and go as they please. It's just hard for me to comprehend the lack of shame that these people feel. They really own their crazy reality and belief system.
I was also told that as of a couple of months ago Patrick Rojas was featured on the drums at Foothills Household of Faith. There was a family visiting this particular church that is aware of my blog and the dangers Patrick poses to children. Apparently the men in the church (at least the men in leadership) are aware of Patrick's sexual deviant history and level 2 status but the WOMEN DO NOT KNOW! Why? How does this help anyone? How does this protect anyone? Pretending that Patrick is not a potential threat to children and placing him on the worship team....really? God does not call us to be stupid or manipulated!
The day finally came when Patrick would be sentenced, July 2007.
A few days prior to Patrick's sentencing, our child expressed a desire to attend the hearing. I panicked! But so much of what had gone on was completely out of this child's control. I decided I would at least talk to Eric about it and then called our counselor. This was one opportunity in all of this for this child to control something, even if it was just whether they wanted to attend the hearing or not.
I called the counselor and we had a lengthy conversation. The counselor felt our child was strong enough emotionally to attend the hearing and that it might be a real healing experience. The counselor decided to attend as well in case anything unexpected happened. The sentencing would be the first time our child would see Patrick Rojas since we reported his crimes. We were ushered into the courthouse by the child advocate. As we exited the elevator, the first thing I saw was Kathy Rojas praying on a bench with someone. I have always wondered what could she possibly been praying (especially since she knew her son was a guilty pedophile.) Would she actually pray for God to keep secret her son's crimes? As we proceeded down the hallway towards the courtroom I saw Patrick Rojas, Eddie Rojas, and the lawyer huddled in the corner. We went into a side room until it was closer to the start of the sentencing. The courtroom was packed. The judge even had people sitting up in the jurors area.
It was at the courthouse when the prosecutor told us there was a last minute request from Patrick's lawyer for a change of judge. Only the defendant can request a change in the judge. Instead of having a judge that regularly presided over similar types of cases, our case was now going before a judge that routinely sat over traffic violations. Unbelievable? Yes.
Judge Daniel Philips was now presiding over our case. He had literally just been handed our case files, which included a 40-page sexual-psycho evaluation that contained very relevant information. To say that Judge W. Daniel Phillips was outrageous is an understatement. I lost any confidence in the court when the judge was suggesting that he would pass sentencing on Patrick without even taking the time to read Patrick's court ordered sexual psycho evaluation. It took a lot of bantering back and forth between lawyers to hold off final sentencing for one week.
We had been told by the prosecutor to prepare a statement to read to the judge. The prosecutor suggested we have our statement written out, because she has seen too many people freeze up in the moment when they hadn't prepared a written statement and after the fact wished they had remembered to make certain points. We were told that anyone could address the judge and make statements. I asked the prosecutor if we should ask people to make statements on our behalf. She stated it would be good to have the child's grandparents have a statement along with us. The prosecutor didn't want to have a room full of people with prepared statements because some judges don't like that. Eric and I decided to ask my parents and two family friends to have a statement prepared. I told anyone who I knew who was planning to attend the sentencing that anyone was welcomed to address the judge, but that we had specifically asked three different families to speak.
A lot of people from the church were concerned about the fact that they would need to pick a side of the courtroom to sit on. They wanted to appear neutral. They didn't want to take sides. That ended up being a moot point because the courtroom was so full people just had to sit where they could find a seat. This attitude as you probably have picked up from previous post was really upsetting to me.
Grandma and Grandpa McBee stood and made a statement. The Dew's and the LLew's also came with a prepared statement to make. We decided that Eric would be the one to make the statement on behalf of our family, but we stood with him. When we were done the judge asked if anyone else wanted to make a statement and there were two individuals that spontaneously stood to make a statement on behalf of us. One of the women I would like to highlight stood and made a very heartfelt emotional statement from the perspective of and adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse.
Now, we had to return to court to find out if the judge would go along with the plea agreement or overrule it, which ended up being, August 17, 2007.
This final sentencing day in court had a very different feel about it. First, we didn't bring our child, there were less people from the church in attendance, and only Eddie and the older boys showed up in court, no Kathy or older girls.
It was many peoples observation in the courtroom that this judge was very arrogant in his demeanor and speech. On the day of final sentencing the judge began with a lengthy speech that was somewhat offensive at points. One example is when the judge equated a sexual predator to a shop lifter or a drunk driver. That statement bothered quite a few people that were in attendance that day. It showed a minimization of the crimes Patrick D. Rojas committed. I am convinced that Judge Phillips could not have read the evaluation in it's entirety because he just went along with the plea agreement in place.
The judge was the last hope for some kind of justice in our case. The judge did not have the authority to change the charges against Patrick but he did have the authority to over ride the plea agreement and sentence Patrick to the maximum for what he was charged. The maximum jail time for the gross-misdemeanor Patrick was charged with would have been 1 year in county jail.
If the judge would have read the evaluation he would have discovered that Patrick should have been charged with child molestation in the first degree which is a felony that held an 8 to 25 year sentence range. The evaluation held information proving that Patrick had 5 other minor victims. How could the judge just go with the original plea agreement. The original plea agreement was made with the belief that Patrick had kissed our child on the lips only.
But the judge should have known otherwise from the information in the evaluation. This process was so upsetting. Unjust! Maddening!
*From the information I gathered Judge W. Daniel Phillips retired in March 2009.
*This was from numerous posts: Sentencing, Sentencing (cont.)7/26/09, Sentencing (cont.) 7/27/09 and The Judge
One of the things that was robbed from my child was learning about the beauty of sexual intimacy in the way God intended. I hadn't even talked with the child that was molested about sexual intimacy or puberty in any detail, yet. This child was so naive to that dimension of life.
My first discussions with this child about sexual intimacy was about a sexual deviant. I had to talk with this child about twisted individuals who do terrible things to children to fulfill disgusting desires. I needed to explain something to the child that they had no frame of reference for. Their first introduction to sexual intimacy was one of darkness.
Nothing can give back the innocence that was stolen by Patrick Rojas. Frankly, his parents, Eddie and Kathy Rojas along with Jairus are also responsible.
Of course I assured my child that they were not responsible in anyway for what had happened. That in no way was this child part of the darkness. Because of the lack of initial understanding this child is highly likely to have a point in their young adulthood of needing to process with a greater understanding what was done to them.
This is only one of the reasons our family can't "just move on" like some people seem to feel we should do. We do move on and then have to deal with something that is directly related and it throws us back, then we need to adjust, deal with whatever and try again to live life........ Denial doesn't change this process, either.
To be an effective child molester one has to have a certain charm about them. When caught this charm along with their lie that, "It will never happen again," more often than not convinces others not to report their crimes.
However slight, if you suspect that someone has had sexual contact with your child you need to report it. Let the authorities sort out the facts. In our day and age it is very hard to have actual charges filled against you unless there is adequate evidence. We need to get the pedophiles on the radar screen.
If you remember, I have referred to -letters of character reference- that a variety of family members, church members, and some church leaders in our community wrote on behalf of Patrick. These were written to say what a great guy Patrick was and what an asset to our community he was and that it would be a waste for him to serve real time in prison for just a moment of poor judgment. These letters boasted that Patrick was repentant. The people who wrote the letters claimed to have already seen a change for the better in Patrick.
There was an Eagle Scout who claimed to be an excellent judge of character. He eloquently stated his personal relationship with Patrick. He wrote a very persuasive letter to the judge requesting that leniency be extended to Patrick. There was also a leader from the Heritage Homeschool Organization that wrote a letter on behalf of Patrick using the organization's letterhead and signing with his official title. I could go on and on.
None of these people ever contacted us to verify information they were selectively given by the Rojas family and the leaders of PHF. Nor did they bother to contact the prosecutor or detective involved in our case. One thing that I still don't understand to this day is that, for some reason, Patrick and his lawyer requested that the contents of the letters be sealed. We were able to read each individual letter in the prosecutors office, but haven't been able to attain actual copies because they aren't in the public file. People would argue that these individuals made a simple judgment error in writing these letters. Fine. But that doesn't take away the consequences of their errors. After the deceit of the Rojas family was revealed and after Patrick was shown to be deviant and dangerous, only one individual felt compelled to write a retraction and send it to the courts. Out of 30+ letters, only one wrote a retraction. Patrick David Rojas, a convicted level-two sex offender who admitted to having sexual interaction with animals, who admitted to peeping in on mothers and daughters in bathrooms, and who admitted to other victims including a baby.
This has always bothered me!
What I hope you will learn from this is to be very careful of you will vouch for. Especially, when pleading for leniency for a crime committed. The letters do influence the judge. Ask questions. Contact the detective involved in the case. Download the public legal documents and read exactly what the person is being charged with. You can learn a lot sometimes just by reading the charging documents. Certain crimes, in order to be committed successfully, take deceiving others around the criminal. Don't be fooled into supporting a sexual predator.
Shortly after the Valentines dinner, I went to a friend and expressed my deep hurt in the fact that the church had hosted this dinner and that she and her husband had attended the event. I went on to express that I would expect people in the church to be literally praying with us or the Rojas family (at this point we had no idea that Eddie and Kathy Rojas were involved nor did we have any idea of how deviant Patrick was.) It was not a time for status quo.
Right after this conversation, my friend started orchestrating a prayer time for us. We were willing to show up for this, but didn't want the Rojas family there. While we didn't have specific information at this point, we sensed something wasn't right. It appeared they were in support of Patrick hiring an attorney.
Eric expressed this concern with our elder, Jim Cameron. Jim stated that Eddie and Kathy Rojas hadn't done anything wrong and made it clear they would be at the prayer time for our family. Jim also stated that if we didn't attend this prayer time, we were letting satan win and missing out on what God had for us. A couple came over and pleaded for us to attend this prayer time. They felt it was vital for the congregation to see that we were devastated and broken--not angry and bitter (as some had said.)
We showed up at the church against our better judgment. We brought a couple that did not attend that church to help filter what was happening.
The meeting started out being more of a question-and-answer time directed by Jim Cameron and Dave Barrueto. Eddie and Kathy Rojas sat quietly in the front row. We were asked how we would like the congregation to pray for us. We took that time to remind those in attendance that we had always been willing to talk to anyone who had questions. We stayed where we were seated while the prayers began. Dave Barrueto ended the prayer time with a prayer for Patrick. I couldn't barely stand it. I was sickened by that. Pray for Patrick--fine, but don't do it in my presence! Not now. This was another moment that was written off by most as, "Oh, this was just an innocent mistake." It wasn't simply a mistake! It was rude and insensitive! It was purposeful!
This was the last time we attended that church, but it took another devastating interaction with Patrick, the Rojas family, and the elders before we had the strength to actually officially leave the church.
I remember throughout everything that was happening in our family I would have to tell myself..... breathe....just breathe. One day while I was out doing errands I heard this song playing overhead, it caught my attention. Breathe by Anna Nalick
I have mentioned that Kathy Rojas knew of her son, Patrick's, pedophilia behavior. It has been very upsetting over time as I have reflected on some of the interactions between myself and Kathy.... The original "non emotions" at the meeting at our home, with only a whisper of, "I'm sorry it was my son." Followed by a phone call a few nights later after I didn't show up at a women's book study letting me know that she missed me and wanted to know how I was doing. This was within hours of us just receiving a call from a man stating he was Patrick's lawyer who wanted to know the name of the Sheriff's detective who we spoke with.
Breathe....just breathe
We discovered something had happened to our child on January 04, 2007. January 10, I started to receive cards from Kathy. One thing that struck me at the time, there was never any reference to what happened. They all contained personal messages that had the same theme: she loved me, they all loved us, God is faithful, God is in control, to trust in Jesus, that our family was continually in their prayers, these specific bible references: Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. and 1 Peter 5:7-casting all youranxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
She sent me the words printed out to, 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus and a lengthy poem written by Renee Rojas. "...will you trust in Me though the journey is hard? Will you trust in me; Will you give Me your heart?"....the basic theme of the poem.
breathe....just breathe.
Kathy never bothers to mention the fact that she knows her son is a pedophile or maybe I'm sorry I didn't protect your family and I allowed my son, who is a sexual predator, to stay the night at your home. Or maybe, my heart is broken for you, I know the agony you are feeling right now. Nor does she mention the victim in all of this.
She just felt it urgent to tell me to "trust God." Meaning what exactly? Kind of like how they "trusted God" by hiding the truth and by going into hiding?
Kathy Rojas
breathe....just breathe.
Another very long letter I received in April from a woman in the church ended with, "It's not about this trial that your facing, it's about God. He wants you to trust Him in it. I will continue to pray for you and your family to grow in Jesus...." This woman and her husband wrote a letter to the judge on behalf of Patrick.
breathe....just breathe.
There were other situations where an elder's wife wanted me to attend an annual homeschool planning meeting with Kathy Rojas. Becky Barrueto just could not wrap her mind around the fact that I was unable to be in the same room and act like there wasn't an elephant in the room.
breathe....just breathe.
There were other gatherings that various families hosted, such as a musical recital, they would invite the Rojas family (including Patrick) and our family. The Rojas family would show in force as if all was fine and we would be considered angry and bitter for not attending.
breathe....just breathe. Because we reported a crime, because we were in mourning, because we set boundaries, because we wanted justice, we were not "trusting God." was how we were being portrayed.
How about this, We "trusted God" to bring to light all that was hidden in darkness! And He did!
Now we are trusting God to take care of this lawsuit!
breathe....just breathe.
Evil takes hold when good men do not speak out! ~Anonymous
In my opinion, Jairus Rojas, helped to facilitate the sexual abuse of my child as did his parents. Jairus never came forward during the investigation to talk to the sheriff's' detective. Jairus stayed silent along with his father, mother, and the elders of the church. Jairus along with Eddie loaned Patrick the $10,000.00 he needed to retain his slick Seattle attorney.
In January of 2oo8, just after Christmas and the New Years our family received a Christmas card in the mail from Benjamin and Jairus Rojas. It was unbelievable! I was speechless! Inside the card there was a personal message, "May God's peace fill your hearts in this coming year and may He pour out His blessings upon you. Love in Christ, Jairus and Benjamin."
I was so enraged at how insensitive they were to have sent us a Christmas card. Both Jairus and Benjamin were supporting their brother, Patrick, and had not even taken the time to read his evaluation or know really what Patrick was capable of or even what he had done to our child.
This was when I called Jairus and confronted him about some of the things I have already mentioned in this and other posts. In the same phone conversation even as Jairus was trying to tell me that he and Patrick had no secrets and that it was the will of God for Jairus to stand along side his brother, I made the discovery he didn't have any idea of who he was supporting. Jairus didn't even have knowledge of the incest with a consenting adult "named relative" that Patrick was involved with (this was happening under Jairus's own nose in his own home.) I also learned in that conversation that Jairus was in full support of his father's decision to go into hiding with the rest of the family. Jairus was conned into believing that Eddie had no choice and that if he didn't run that the minor girls would be taken away by the State. I can assure you unless the State found that Eddie was sexually abusing his own children all the State wanted to do was ask questions about their relationship with Patrick.
All Jairus could say was that Patrick was repentant and that Jairus believed he was to love his brother. Again, what planet are these people from? Patrick had been successfully lying to him and living a double life for 7 years. Patrick is a conman. But Jairus foolishly believes Patrick is somehow different now. What does he base his logic on?
The evaluation revealed that Patrick at (15yrs of age) was "caught" and that he was disciplined by his father, he repented and all was forgiven. Then again at (age 17) Patrick was caught another time. This time Patrick shared that both his parents talked with him, that he repented and all was forgiven.
Life as normal to the outside world.
As part of the evaluation, Patrick had to reveal all of his minor victims and outline the crimes in detail. What I am willing to say about the other victims: ages range from 18 months old to11yrs old. Patrick was actively victimizing someone when he was between the ages of 15-22, (then we reported him.) Out of the five additional victims four of them could qualify him for 4 charges of child molestation in the first degree and the fifth would be a lesser charge. (Patrick states that per his lawyers advise he only gives the age, sex and details of the sexual abuse of his 5 additional victims. He does however name the adult sister that he had consensual sexual contact with. Along with the details of what was done to my child.)
Eric and I were told to keep the sex/psycho evaluation information quiet. This was an ongoing investigation and we shouldn't talk about it. It would be two more months before Patrick's sentencing day and before all the information would become publicly accessible.
We didn't know at the sentencing that we would be dealt the final blow.(At least we hoped it is was final blow, but it wasn't...) The Sunday before Patrick was sentenced Eddie Rojas stepped down from his role as Pastor of the church. Eddie attended Patrick's sentencing and was approached by CPS and was asked to produce the girls for an interview. Eddie asked for some time. He told others that he was taking his family camping to get away from everything and that's the last Eddie or the minor children have been seen in Washington State.
Eddie, Kathy and an older brother, Jairus, knew of Patrick's pedophilia tendencies and kept it secret. I believe this makes them just as culpable as Patrick in the crimes against our family and his other victims. (Some of which are currently with Eddie Rojas in hiding.)
It is to this day still hard for me to believe that they knew yet still allowed and encouraged Patrick's interactions with our family.
As a condition of Patrick's plea agreement with the state, Patrick had to take a court ordered sexual psychological evaluation. These evaluations are very intense. Part of the evaluation includes a number of sessions along with a lie detector test and such.
We would not know until mid June 2007 the results of the evaluation. (Remember we reported the crime in January 2007.)
I remember the day clearly, the phone rang and it was the prosecutor, Kelly Montgomery, along with Eric on a three way call. She started by saying she had a feeling that Patrick was bad but had no idea just how bad he was. She stated that the 40+page evaluation she had in front of her was one of the worst to come across her desk in a long while.
She hated to have to tell us...... but needed to let us know that our child had been victimized to an even greater extent than we had previously known.
She read us the detailed description word for word of what Patrick had done to our child. She read direct quotes from Patrick taken during his evaluation. Part of his evaluation required him to take a polygraph examination. He had to pass the polygraph as truthful in order for the plea agreement to stay in place. This agreement protected him from further charges with any additional information pertaining to our case. The prosecutor went on to explain to us that our child was one of 6 victims. Also revealed to us, Patrick had taken part in bestiality, online pornography, and incest with a consenting adult sister.
If that wasn't horrifically, shocking enough she added that Patrick's parents, Eddie and Kathy Rojas, were aware of his pedophilia behavior which started around age 15. He was 22 at this time. Seven years of sexual deviant behavior kept hidden within the family. Numerous victims.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." ~MLK, Jr.
*Parts from "What Eddie Knew" post. More tomorrow.
You may wonder how we missed that our child was being groomed and had been sexually molested. A pedophile grooms the entire family and gains trust of everyone around the targeted child. It's almost ALWAYS someone the family knows and loves.
"People who are predators are really good at seducing children. This is their job. This is what they do. If they do it well, you are seduced before you know it. You don't know that it's seduction, that's the whole point..." ~from a TV special~
A church is ideal grounds to groom families. Our church was set-up to be very family oriented. Most of the families home schooled and integrating all ages is the norm. Pedophiles are typically patient and watch for vulnerabilities in the targeted family.
Our family was particularly vulnerable. Just in a years time prior to Patrick's crimes against our child, there was cancer in our immediate family, we had a new born, and moved twice.
The Rojas family was always there to help us. Patrick started tutoring one of our children and taking him on as a "little brother in Christ" type mentoring. This is every parents dream. A seemly Godly young man taking time out of his life to encourage another whom is younger. Our family welcomed the involvement. This is how Patrick gained access to the victim child.
Anything that might of normally been a "red flag" was easily explained away because of how "Godly, caring, and humble," the Rojas family was. I did have some "gut" feelings but didn't pay attention and act on them. I thought my "paranoia" was born out of my own life experiences. I will never ignore my gut again.Our children were not able to go on sleep overs (with rare exceptions) for the simple fact we didn't want them vulnerable to sexual abuse. Our kids were almost always supervised around other children for the same reason. Because of my background I am always suspicious of others.
There were a few times we knew Patrick left our child a note that read "Smile Jesus loves you" (with a smiley face) and would leave a few pieces of candy. I would tell myself, "How thoughtful, Patrick knew that this child would feel left out because they weren't going and doing x,y or z like their sibling was." Perfectly logical, he's from a family with 13 siblings who are taught to think of others. He also didn't just single out the victim, he would mix it up and sometimes give treats to all the kids. Patrick was always the "thoughtful guy."
Does too good to be true come to your mind?
Let's not forget that he had help from his parents, Eddie and Kathy Rojas along with Jairus, all of whom had knowledge of Patrick's pedophilia behaviors long before we reported the crimes against our family.
From the first deviant sexual act, the child is forever changed!
Do you get what is taken from a child when they are sexually molested, regardless of the level of the molestation? Their innocence. Their ability to trust. Something that is meant to be beautiful,(sexual intimacy,) gets introduced as something dirty and bad. The child's sense of safety is robbed.
The child that is damaged far more is the child who never tells or isn't supported when they do tell. The trauma that is caused by childhood sexual abuse, if not properly dealt with, can lead to a lifetime of residual consequences.
At our church there seemed to be an overwhelming amount of individuals who wanted to bury their heads in the sand. They didn't want to know what was really happening with our case or in our family. I believe they chose this so they could be friends with everybody. I am not good at playing that game. This was too big!
All the areas of our lives that this affected made it such that we just couldn't play along. Essentially, we stayed away from these people, they didn't want to know and we didn't have the emotional energy at the time to make them face the facts. Amazingly enough most of these people wrote letters in support of Patrick to the judge asking for leniency.
The leaders weren't discouraging it and hey, he was Patrick Rojas, and it was only "inappropriate affections." They didn't bother to ask us questions, or take the time to call the prosecutor, nor the sheriff detective in charge of the case. They simple pulled their heads out of the sand, wrote a letter of support for Patrick, and stuck their heads back in the sand.
Then when the true nature of Patrick and the crimes he committed were exposed they acted as if they shouldn't be held accountable for writing the letters of support because, "If they knew then what they know now......" THEY NEVER BOTHERED TO ASK QUESTIONS. To be fair the congregation was all but forbidden to speak about what was happening between the Rojas family and the Schneider family. This should have been a RED FLAG!
I don't even know what to say about the people who would quote scripture only to us. I have to be careful here so I am not misunderstood. When I would tell someone about what had happened in our family and then their response was something along the lines of, "Just trust God," "God is in control," or "God is sovereign." I wanted to shake the person and say,
"Does that make you feel better because it doesn't change any of the consequences that our family will endure."
Their statements actually made me somewhat defensive, what exactly were they implying? I felt like I needed to defend the fact that I was undone by what happened to my child and by who and with the help of others that I had respected and trusted. The countenance of the person and the way in which they were talking to me made it seem as if I was suppose to be happy about all of this because it was Gods' will. If I would just trust God everything would be fine. It was like I was doing something wrong by mourning the betrayal of so many people.
The following 24hrs after the emergency meeting were horrible, as you might imagine.
...it started to play back in my head....I kept thinking, are we making too much out of this? In the spirit of not being a "gossiper" we didn't let anyone else in our church or family know what we just discovered. (secrecy gives the sex offender power)
A name popped in my head, it was someone I could call that could help me process what we just discovered and would tell me if we were making something out of nothing. She has a masters in psychology and is a Christian. She would know what she was talking about from a biblical world view which mattered to me. I hadn't spoken to this person in many years other than running into to her at a mutual friends birthday party or something like that....but I located her number and called.
Almost immediately after outlining the note and the "emergency meeting" she stated that we needed to report sexual abuse to the police. I was very hesitant and she could tell. She went on to explain a 22yr old man does not just wake up one day and fall in love with a child under 12yrs old, that Patrick most certainly had other victims with the grooming pattern he displayed towards our child. She asked if he had any sisters and expressed concern for them. (The very girls that were taken into hiding by their father, Eddie Rojas, to protect a pedophile from further prosecution.) She told me to call a sexual abuse hot line and talk anonymously with them about our situation and see if they gave us the same advice, which was to call the police! As I'm sure my friend knew the sexual assault center did in fact say we absolutely needed to call the police!
Eric and I were still struggling and praying. When I looked at my husband and said, "if it were our neighbor that we were talking about we wouldn't hesitate calling the police." The phone rang. It was my friend who said I just want to ask you one thing "If this were your neighbor you were talking about would you even hesitate to call the police?" I was blown away. (This still gives me chills, to this day, when I recall it.) I explained that I just said that exact thing to Eric. She urged us to hang up and call 911.
That is exactly what we did!
*Retelling from the original "Discovery" post. Our Story will continue tomorrow.
We were having company come over the following night so our family was tidying up our home. The family we were having over ironically enough was the Rojas family. Anyway, Eric went into one of the rooms to check it out and upon inspection he found a letter inside the pillow case on one of the beds. The reaction from the child was strange so Eric came to me and we read it together.
My heart sank...there was a small torn note around the outside of the letter and here is some of what was written, "...best to tear the letter up when done reading and responding to it." ..."other notes I gave you should also be disposed of or given back to me." "This is a risky place for a mailbox....think of another place....put it there if you know I am coming or if your whole family is leaving."
Then we opened up the letter which was written on college lined paper and was two and 1/2 full pages, written 12/06......the paragraph that made me literally sick to my stomach was;
"I know that I didn't just offend you, I realize that I hurt you very deeply by what I did. I took from you something I can't ever give back......I did it because I love you. I assumed you loved me....but I guess I thought wrong".....
"......I also want to apologize for reading your diary.....since I read yours I feel as though you should read mine......"
".......I want to encourage you to grow closer to the Lord. He is more faithful than I could ever be......He has promised to be with you and never forsake you! :) "
"....P.P.S. Sometimes I feel like giving you a little gift (like gum or candy) because I want to bless you. But recently you haven't been very receptive of my efforts...."
We talked to the our child who stated their memory was very dream like and thought that Patrick kissed them.
Patrick was 22 years old and our child was 11.
What? A kiss? When? How? Really? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
The appeal process is going forward. I saw it coming. Unfortunately, appealing the decision to dismiss his case is very characteristic to Patrick's behavior, thus far. But I was hopeful that the appeals court would dismiss his request to review the ruling all together....We are now waiting for Patrick to submit his briefing, at this point he is representing himself.
I have been considering re-posting our story because there is still a wanted felon on the run, there are additional victims, of his, that have not seen justice for the crimes they endured, and a level two sex offender living freely in Port Orchard, Washington that is trying to get me to stop telling my story. To refresh your memory, I will be re-posting OUR STORY from the beginning. This is a great time to post a link to my blog and raise awareness!
The following is from my initial post that started this blog. At the time I wrote this I had no idea I would have so much to say, that I would eventually receive tips and actually locate Eddie Rojas and family or that the actual sex offender of my child would have the audacity to sue me for telling OUR STORY.
*I made a few minor changes to the original post: "How Can You Help?:
We need your help in locating someone who is in hiding along with innocent minor children. There is an arrest warrant in the name of Francis Edward Rojas, AKA (Eddie Rojas) for "witness tampering." The warrant is out of Kitsap County court in Washington State, it is a nation wide warrant. Just prior to going into hiding, Eddie, was the pastor at "Peninsula Household of Faith Community Church" in Port Orchard, WA which is affiliated with the "Household of Faith Community Church's."
In January 2007 we discovered that his adult son (whom lived under Eddie's roof) was a pedophile. I will attempt to outline the events that lead to Eddie taking his wife and 10 children into hiding, why there is a warrant for his arrest, and why you should help locate him. Our family has used all available legal channels and had hired a private detective to try and locate this man and haven't successfully found Eddie. I have reservations about using the internet but the pro's out weigh the con's....I need to know that I did not leave any reasonable possibility unexplored.
This will be an emotional blog with a subject matter that is heinous but I can't shake the feeling that we may succeed in finding a wanted man with a felony warrant and bring healing to so many others. I have a large family and as time allows I will be posting more information, pictures, possible "hot" spots where Eddie may be in hiding along with more of our story.
Check back to see how our REAL life story unfolds....
It appears that Patrick is requesting that an appellate counsel be appointed to him. No, really! Not sure if I should laugh or cry... All I know is that I am in a "wait and see" stance. Will the court accept Patrick's request for an appeal? Will the courts appoint counsel? YOUR tax dollars might be used to pay for Patrick's public appointed counsel.
Fretting over what MAY be...won't do me any good. For now, I am pushing this to the back burner and plan to enjoy this holiday with my family.
"Would you want your private thoughts made public," is something I hear the individuals that have supported Patrick and believe he is rehabiltated ask. REALLY? No, I wouldn't want my every thought made public because they are just that-thoughts. If I am a criminal would I want my crimes made public? Again, I would have to assume no, because making my crimes public would greatly hinder me from committing future crimes.
Patrick had to pass the evaluation as "truthful" in order for his plea agreement to hold in our case. The evaluation was done over a certain time period with multiple steps. One of the steps was a lie detector test. These are not fantasies or thoughts. These were acts that Patrick ACTUALLY committed. The detailed crimes in the evaluation are words straight from Patrick, himself, of ACTIONS HE DID! I am confident Patrick and his attorney banked on the psycho sexual evaluation not being considered public information. Now that it has been ruled "public" Patrick can not hide behind the 5th ammendment. Why would Patrick even need to hide behind the 5th ammendment, you ask?
Because my blog is true! The crimes I suggest or state are true. The risk Patrick poses to children is true! The usage of religion to gain sympathy and manipulate is true! The suggestion that there are other predators in the immediate family should be investigated! My concern for other innocent families being in community with the Rojas family is valid! And the evaluation backs all those statements up! Patrick can not honestly answer the discovery questions for the lawsuit without incriminating himself or others in his family!
Why didn't I reconize how bad this was while I was in it? I remember raising my eyebrow and discussing it with a few others and questioning how strange it was... to chastise your adult child. To basically require your older girls to discipline and raise your younger children...one reason I stopped at six kids was because I didn't think I could personally handle raising more and didn't want to burn-out my older children before they ever had a chance to live their own lives. But when it is all being sold under "selflessness" and "God only gives you what you can handle" "God is soverign" "Just trust God to provide" ....
I wanted to glorify God...I wanted to raise my children in a Christ-centered home (I was insecure because I came from virtually the opposite type of upbringing.)
I saw this group that appeared to be very Christ-like...selfless, serving, devoted. They seemed to practice what they preached (although, I had been around Christians for years it seemed there were so many that didn't actually live out basic biblical precepts, as I interpret them) and here was this group that seemed to live them out and their children were respectful, kind, loving, and seemed very happy. Who wouldn't be attracted to that? I desired a "happy" family that glorified God. I was in, all the way, almost.
Then this happened.
I couldn't do what I knew the elders and Eddie and Kathy wanted me to do even if it meant I was "ungodly." Because in their eyes my actions were not biblical. The pressure was overwhelming, coupled with the devastation of what we believed to have happened to our child.
As time went on the revelations grew worse. We became aware of other adult family members that could have warned us of Patrick's propensity to sexually abuse adolesent children, we learned of additional victims, betrayl upon betrayl.
Then, I started this blog.
How could my blog possibly be biblical? (I say that very sarcastically.)
It's gossip, you know. It's written by a women, "Who is easially deceived." I can hear "them" saying..."Patrick is only biblically required to confess his sins (crimes) to his "elders" and as long as he repents and follows their guidence there would be no biblical reason to keep him from the fellowship of believers." "And TRUE forgiveness means full reconciliation."
You wouldn't dare talk about the possibility of re-offending...and if he were to re-offend, Patrick would need to again, confess and repent, and so the cycle goes. IT IS SO SICK and SO WRONG!
What concerns me about the individuals that surround and support Patrick is the fact that they claim he is rehabilitated. He is healed of pedophilia.
That is EXACTLY what Patrick wants them to believe.
Can anyone prove that Patrick hasn't sexually abused a child since we reported the crimes committed in our family, January 2007? NO! Just like I can't prove he has. The only way to know for certain that Patrick isn't abusing another child is to limit his access to minor children. Anyone that would "take a chance" and allow Patrick access to their minor children are neglegant parents! Anyone that keeps the families secrets are neglegant individuals.
